New Raspberry Pi Kernels & Related Packages

In your config.txt above you still have it enabled. I guess fbturbo is overriding it?

#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d-pi4
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

No, I do not have fbturbo on any rpi4, I find no benefit and the code is 10 years old. I block v3d in one of two ways, either use modules.blacklist=v3d on the command line or use SUSE’s dtoverlay=disable-v3d in config.txt.

After removing VC4 from the modules=() in mkinitcpio.conf and removing vc4-kms-v3d, it now boots fine with 5.10.63-2 and llvmpipe. I will reconfigure my production machines like this.

But there is still the flashing green light, not sure what it indicates. I see this on the rpi3 with the 5.14-4 kernel too.

inxi -Fzx

System:    Kernel: 5.10.63-2-MANJARO-ARM aarch64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5 Distro: Manjaro ARM 
           base: Arch Linux 
Machine:   Type: ARM Device System: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.4 details: BCM2835 rev: d03114 serial: <filter> 
CPU:       Info: Quad Core model: N/A variant: cortex-a72 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: ARMv8 rev: 3 
           features: Use -f option to see features bogomips: 432 
           Speed: 600 MHz min/max: 600/2000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 600 2: 600 3: 600 4: 600 
Graphics:  Device-1: bcm2708-fb driver: bcm2708_fb v: kernel bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: loaded: fbdev unloaded: modesetting resolution: 3840x2160 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.1 128 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.2.2 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: bcm2835-audio driver: bcm2835_audio bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.63-2-MANJARO-ARM running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no 
           Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.37 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: bcm2711-genet-v5 driver: bcmgenet v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: bcm2835-sdhci driver: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 111.79 GiB used: 30.23 GiB (27.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Kingston model: SA400M8120G size: 111.79 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 55.38 GiB used: 30.17 GiB (54.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 
           ID-2: /boot size: 246.1 MiB used: 52.8 MiB (21.5%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-3: /home size: 1.79 TiB used: 1.21 TiB (67.8%) fs: nfs remote: homeb2.{filtered}.com:/home 
           ID-4: /var/log size: 55.38 GiB used: 30.17 GiB (54.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 
Swap:      ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 48.2 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 190 Uptime: 2m Memory: 7.64 GiB used: 992.6 MiB (12.7%) Init: systemd Compilers: gcc: 10.2.0 
           clang: 12.0.1 Packages: 994 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.8 inxi: 3.3.06

I installed the 5.10.63-2 on my pi3b+ sdcard with UEFI/GRUB. I then installed xf86-video-fbturbo-git. I did not see what you reported with lines of boot messages. So I am guessing it has something to do with the way you have your system configured with out fbturbo. I wonder if it is blocking vc4 now and it can not load what was in mkinitcpio.conf. I have not changed mine here; it is still what is default.

My inxi looks completely different than yours at Graphics:

[ray@pi3 ~]$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.10.63-2-MANJARO-ARM aarch64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 
           Distro: Manjaro ARM base: Arch Linux 
Machine:   Type: Embedded-pc System: Raspberry Pi Foundation product: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ 
           v: A020D3 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Sony UK model: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ v: A020D3 serial: <filter> 
           UEFI: https://github.com/pftf/RPi3 v: UEFI Firmware v1.36 date: 08/04/2021 
CPU:       Info: Quad Core model: N/A variant: cortex-a53 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: ARMv8 rev: 4 
           features: Use -f option to see features bogomips: 0 
           Speed: 1000 MHz min/max: 600/1400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1000 2: 1000 3: 1000 4: 1000 
Graphics:  Device-1: bcm2835-vc4 driver: vc4_drm v: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-2: bcm2835-hdmi driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: loaded: fbturbo s-res: 1366x768 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.1 128 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.2.2 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: bcm2835-audio driver: bcm2835_audio bus-ID: N/A 
           Device-2: bcm2835-hdmi driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.63-2-MANJARO-ARM running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: bcm2835-mmc driver: mmc_bcm2835 v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Microchip (formerly SMSC) type: USB driver: lan78xx bus-ID: 1-1.1.1:5 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: pl011 driver: uart_pl011 bus-ID: N/A 
           Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: see --recommends 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 29.72 GiB used: 5.68 GiB (19.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: SanDisk model: SU32G size: 29.72 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 28.97 GiB used: 5.66 GiB (19.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2 
           ID-2: /boot/efi size: 213.4 MiB used: 22.7 MiB (10.6%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1 
Swap:      ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 1.32 GiB used: 2.5 MiB (0.2%) dev: /dev/zram0 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 40.8 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 156 Uptime: 5m Memory: 975.2 MiB used: 597.5 MiB (61.3%) gpu: 76 MiB 
           Init: systemd Compilers: gcc: N/A Packages: 657 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.8 inxi: 3.3.06 
[ray@pi3 ~]$

VC4 modules loaded:

[ray@pi3 ~]$ lsmod | grep vc4
vc4                   274432  1
snd_soc_core          237568  1 vc4
drm_kms_helper        253952  4 vc4
drm                   561152  3 drm_kms_helper,vc4
cec                    69632  1 vc4

I have completely removed the vc4 from my configuration, lsmod shows I do not have the vc4 module loaded.

lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
rpcsec_gss_krb5        32768  0
snd_seq_dummy          16384  0
snd_hrtimer            16384  1
snd_seq                86016  7 snd_seq_dummy
snd_seq_device         20480  1 snd_seq
joydev                 28672  0
evdev                  24576  5
rfkill                 36864  3
bcm2835_v4l2           45056  0
bcm2835_codec          49152  0
videobuf2_vmalloc      20480  1 bcm2835_v4l2
bcm2835_isp            32768  0
bcm2835_mmal_vchiq     40960  3 bcm2835_codec,bcm2835_v4l2,bcm2835_isp
v4l2_mem2mem           40960  1 bcm2835_codec
videobuf2_dma_contig    24576  2 bcm2835_codec,bcm2835_isp
videobuf2_memops       20480  2 videobuf2_vmalloc,videobuf2_dma_contig
videobuf2_v4l2         32768  4 bcm2835_codec,bcm2835_v4l2,v4l2_mem2mem,bcm2835_isp
zstd                   16384  8
videobuf2_common       61440  5 bcm2835_codec,videobuf2_v4l2,bcm2835_v4l2,v4l2_mem2mem,bcm2835_isp
videodev              311296  6 bcm2835_codec,videobuf2_v4l2,bcm2835_v4l2,videobuf2_common,v4l2_mem2mem,bcm2835_isp
vc_sm_cma              36864  2 bcm2835_mmal_vchiq,bcm2835_isp
snd_bcm2835            28672  2
snd_pcm               139264  1 snd_bcm2835
snd_timer              36864  3 snd_seq,snd_hrtimer,snd_pcm
raspberrypi_hwmon      16384  0
mc                     61440  6 videodev,bcm2835_codec,videobuf2_v4l2,videobuf2_common,v4l2_mem2mem,bcm2835_isp
snd                    98304  11 snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_bcm2835,snd_timer,snd_pcm
i2c_bcm2835            16384  1
crct10dif_ce           20480  1
nvmem_rmem             16384  0
rpivid_mem             16384  0
uio_pdrv_genirq        16384  0
uio                    24576  1 uio_pdrv_genirq
sch_fq_codel           20480  6
i2c_bcm2708            16384  0
i2c_dev                20480  2
sg                     36864  0
crypto_user            16384  0
fuse                  135168  1
drm                   561152  0
drm_panel_orientation_quirks    20480  1 drm
backlight              20480  1 drm
ip_tables              32768  0
x_tables               40960  1 ip_tables
ipv6                  536576  232
overlay               122880  0
btrfs                1372160  1
blake2b_generic        20480  0
xor                    20480  1 btrfs
xor_neon               16384  1 xor
raid6_pq              110592  1 btrfs
zram                   28672  0
zsmalloc               36864  1 zram

Edit: This is on my arm-testing pi using the standard rpi firmware boot process.

Edit 2: I remove all of the splash/quiet settings, so I can see all of the boot messages.

Edit 3: I have run iostat -x 1 for a while, it does not seem like the flashing green light indicates disk activity.

I do not have a flashing green light.

I did not want to hear that. :stuck_out_tongue:

Now I have to hunt for the cause…

So your green light is solid?

When booted up and everything settles down there is no green light of any kind for a long time.

It for sure comes and goes with the kernel upgrades/downgrades 5.10.60-2 → 5.10.63-2 on my rpi4. From googling, it seems the green light indicates SD drive activity. Well, on this rpi4 the SD drive is empty. Maybe it is because the SD drive is empty… maybe it is constantly testing for an SD card insertion? I don’t want to open up my case just to test this. I will test it more later today with my pi at home.

Edit: I tested 5.10.63-1 and it also blinks on my rpi4.

Maybe because it’s writing some logs to disk? (SD Card)

I do have flashing green light on my Pi 3+B but rather of topic because my setup is Paspbian and Pi-Hole and WireGuard VPN

I booted up on my pi4 that had the 5.15 kernel installed and it blinks also. I turned it off in config.txt dtparam=sd_poll_once.

[ray@pi4 ~]$ cat /sys/class/leds/led0/trigger 
none rc-feedback kbd-scrolllock kbd-numlock kbd-capslock kbd-kanalock kbd-shiftlock kbd-altgrlock kbd-ctrllock kbd-altlock kbd-shiftllock kbd-shiftrlock kbd-ctrlllock kbd-ctrlrlock timer oneshot heartbeat backlight gpio cpu cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 default-on input panic actpwr mmc1 [mmc0] rfkill-any rfkill-none rfkill0 rfkill1
 
[ray@pi4 ~]$ cat /sys/class/leds/led1/trigger 
none rc-feedback kbd-scrolllock kbd-numlock kbd-capslock kbd-kanalock kbd-shiftlock kbd-altgrlock kbd-ctrllock kbd-altlock kbd-shiftllock kbd-shiftrlock kbd-ctrlllock kbd-ctrlrlock timer oneshot heartbeat backlight gpio cpu cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 [default-on] input panic actpwr mmc1 mmc0 rfkill-any rfkill-none rfkill0 rfkill1

Anyway it is something I am not going to worry about. From reading in the past it was normal.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=681761#p681761

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That is the fix! Thank you very much.

Edit: I agree, don’t mess with it. If cranky old folks like me complain, there is a solution. But for folks using an SD card, it is useful.

Edit: A link with a bit more information. Pretty sure others have wondered about the “mystery” cpu usage.

forgive my ignorance, why disable vc4?

The short answer is, if you need/want to use a framebuffer software rendering.

but isn’t the framebuffer already enabled if i am running xcfe? i get slow performance with kms , fkms is still quicker, i am running headless via x11vnc/nomachine

my current fkms based output
dmesg | grep -i frame
[ 0.001176] LSM: Security Framework initializing
[ 0.251633] simple-framebuffer 3e2fe000.framebuffer: framebuffer at 0x3e2fe000, 0x7f8000 bytes
[ 0.251671] simple-framebuffer 3e2fe000.framebuffer: format=a8r8g8b8, mode=1920x1080x32, linelength=7680
[ 0.263821] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 240x67
[ 0.274785] simple-framebuffer 3e2fe000.framebuffer: fb0: simplefb registered!
[ 8.234002] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 240x67
[ 8.297813] vc4-drm gpu: [drm] fb0: vc4 frame buffer device

Yes, the console has a framebuffer fb0. But for 3D rendering (composting) you can use either v3d which is the hardware accelerator (kms/fkms), or you can use llvmpipe which is a software accelerator. When you want/need to use llvmpipe, you use either fbturbo (not compatible with vc4) or fbdev to load Mesa’s llvmpipe driver.

Edit: I modified my post above, I should have used “software rendering” rather than framebuffer.

I do not know about the blinking, but as far as the SD polling creating a noticeable CPU load, it seems to have been resolved with all three of the current kernels. For CPU load, this parameter seems to no longer be required.

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Does anyone know how X2GOserver in rpi4 (lightDM, IceWM) should be set up to access the current local display? Here, when trying to access from a remote machine, I get the error:
" The connection with the remote server was shut down.Please check the state of your network connection.".
When creating another session there is no problem.